Nonstop flight route between Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Abilene, Texas, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santos Dumont Airport (SDU), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Dyess Air Force Base (DYS), Abilene, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,347 miles (or 8,606 kilometers).

A Great Circle is the shortest distance between 2 points on a sphere. Because most world maps are flat (but the Earth is round), the route of the shortest distance between 2 points on the Earth will often appear curved when viewed on a flat map, especially for long distances. If you were to simply draw a straight line on a flat map and measure a very long distance, it would likely be much further than if you were to lay a string between those two points on a globe. Because of the large distance between Santos Dumont Airport and Dyess Air Force Base, the route shown on this map most likely appears curved because of this reason.

Try it at home! Get a globe and tightly lay a string between Santos Dumont Airport and Dyess Air Force Base. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Santos Dumont Airport (SDU):

• The furthest airport from Santos Dumont Airport (SDU) is Central Field (Iwo Jima)Motoyama No. 2Airfield No. 2 (IWO), which is nearly antipodal to Santos Dumont Airport (meaning Santos Dumont Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Central Field (Iwo Jima)Motoyama No. 2Airfield No. 2), and is located 12,125 miles (19,513 kilometers) away in Iwo Jima, Bonin Islands, Japan.
• The closest airport to Santos Dumont Airport (SDU) is Rio de Janeiro/Galeão–Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport (GIG), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) NW of SDU.
• On 26 May 2007, in time for the 2007 Pan American Games, a brand-new, modern extension of the original terminal was opened.
• In 1934, in order to handle a growing amount of land operations, land was reclaimed from the sea to create the first runway of the airport with a length of 1,300 feet.
• In 2012, the airport was ranked 6th in terms of transported passengers and aircraft operations, placing it amongst the busiest airports in the country.
• Santos Dumont Airport handled 9,204,603 passengers last year.
• In addition to being known as "Santos Dumont Airport", another name for SDU is "Aeroporto Santos Dumont".
• Santos Dumont Airport (SDU) has 2 runways.
• Because of Santos Dumont Airport's relatively low elevation of 11 feet, planes can take off or land at Santos Dumont Airport at a lower air speed than at airports located at a higher elevation. This is because the air density is higher closer to sea level than it would otherwise be at higher elevations.

Facts about Dyess Air Force Base (DYS):

• The closest airport to Dyess Air Force Base (DYS) is Abilene Regional Airport (ABI), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) E of DYS.
• From 1962 to 1965 Dyess Air Force Base had 13 SM-65 Atlas Missile sites Stationed around it.
• The 96th Bombardment Wing moved to Dyess on 8 September 1957 and for a few years worked alongside the 341st.
• The furthest airport from Dyess Air Force Base (DYS) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,080 miles (17,831 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• The host unit at Dyess is the 7th Bomb Wing of the Air Combat Command, which was activated on 1 October 1993.
• In addition to being known as "Dyess Air Force Base", another name for DYS is "Dyess AFB".
• The base is located in the southwest corner of Abilene, TX and is about 200 miles west of Dallas.
• The base is named after Lt Col William Edwin Dyess, a native of Albany, Texas, who was captured by the Japanese on Bataan in April 1942.
• The 77th and 69th groups were units that trained reconnaissance personnel who later served overseas.